For the first time since I have paid attention to Southern Baptist proceedings, I am anticipating this year’s Annual Meeting with optimism.

There is a good chance that a socially conservative presidential candidate with some guts may be the next president. The proposed resolutions, even the one on immigration, are not as politically charged as they have been over the past decade. The new ERLC president has not been a cause for concern, and there is significant momentum to pass a constitutional amendment to enhance the Credentials Committee’s ability to address the female pastor controversy.

A Decade of Downgrade

When I started tracking Southern Baptist-related issues, I did so in response to a downgrade that, by then, had been going on for a decade.

Since the Great Commission Resurgence, a set of missional strategies adopted in 2010, the SBC has faced increased Left-leaning politicization, mission drift, and signs of corruption. In the 2010 Great Commission Resurgence book, it was suggested that:

The Southern Baptist Convention will either be more diverse or more diminished. We will either look more and more like America ethnically, or we are going to stand out for our standing out from the culture . . . It requires incredible strategy to become more diverse. It will require a lot of denominational energy and a lot of discomfort.

Within the next five years, diversity initiatives, lectures, and institutions started sprouting across the denomination, the most famous of which was the Kingdom Diversity Initiative at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Many theological conservatives in the denomination were not even aware that a problem existed until 2019, when the Convention voted to adopt Resolution 9, which categorized critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality as “analytical tools” that could “aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences.” Unnoticed by many pew sitters, Southern Seminary professors such as Jarvis Williams, Curtis Woods, and Matthew Hall had already introduced ideas into Southern Baptist education that were consistent with the theory years prior.

By 2020, it seemed every entity in Southern Baptist life was impacted, including the International Mission Board, which planned to implement “unconscious bias and sensitivity” training, held a diversity-focused summit, and used teachings consistent with CRT for mission training.

I took it for granted that at least one left-leaning resolution on a race-related topic, whether related to immigration, racism, or allegedly offensive symbols and movements, would pass on the convention floor, since that happened every year from 2015 to 2023. I knew that efforts to curtail female pastors in any serious way would fail, Me Too-related measures would pass, and any call for forensic audits would likely not receive a fair hearing. That was just the way it was. Until now.

An Opportunity

There is no reason to believe corrupt ministry leaders have given up corruption, but they may be sensible enough to see how the winds have shifted. The 2024 Report of the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force showed that the Great Commission Resurgence, which prioritized giving to evangelism and reaching North America, was largely a failed project. So was the Southern Baptists’ foray into the # MeToo movement, which currently has them tied up in multiple legal cases. Last year, the Executive Committee President, Jeff Iorg, reported that from 2021 to 2024, “$13 million had been spent on investigations related to sexual abuse and related legal costs.” Cooperative Program giving is down, and churches are leaving the SBC. But at least the denomination is slightly more diverse.

Under typical circumstances in the business world, these problems would be talked about more honestly, with blame and subsequent obligatory resignations aimed at the parties responsible. But that is not the way things generally work during the annual meeting. The guilty leaders control the narrative from the convention stage and do not take responsibility for the decline they presided over.

To right the ship will take years of theologically conservative victories, a new group of uncompromising leaders, and consistently good committee appointments. This task is not for the faint of heart. Since 2021, I have not recommended alignment with the Southern Baptist Convention for local ministry-related purposes. If, on the other hand, a church already within the denomination sees the opportunity to return the denomination to a more worthwhile organization and is willing to expend the prayer, time, and money necessary to achieve it, then this is the year to show up.

Willy Rice is running for president, and he has done something we hardly ever see a member of the leadership class in the SBC do—he took responsibility for backing the wrong side. He wants greater transparency and an end to churches overriding the denomination’s doctrine on female pastors. Pastor Rice is on his home turf in Florida, has an affable personality, and has been a high-profile leader in the Convention long enough to overcome the barriers to entry that dark-horse candidates face.

There is also significant momentum behind the “Truth and Unity Amendment” on the issue of female pastors. This proposal would further clarify that the office and function of pastor are reserved for men by enshrining that principle in the denomination’s constitution. Like the previous “Law Amendment,” which failed to pass, the “Truth and Unity Amendment” will likely garner the support of many who were vocally in favor of ethnic diversity and Me Too initiatives. It is a relatively low bar for Southern Baptists to achieve this victory, but if it passes, it will raise morale among conservatives who have grown accustomed to being on the losing side of issues for years, even if they are working in coalition with others with whom they disagree on other issues.

Resolutions

Many of this year’s resolutions are very good, including: “On Assisted Suicide and the Sanctity of Life,” “On Finishing Well in Life and Ministry,” “On Appreciation for Bivocational and Volunteer Pastors,” and “On the Nature and Importance of the Physically Gathered Church in a Digital Age.”

Given how egregious the SBC Resolutions Committee has been in the past, I do not want to get too nitpicky about the resolutions, but I will offer some constructive criticism.

The first resolution, titled “On the 250th Anniversary of the United States and the Baptist Contribution to Religious Liberty,” does contain some inaccuracies and leaves much to be desired. The resolution maintains that the United States was founded in 1776, the “promise [freedom] of its founding” led to ending slavery, and Baptists are partially responsible for “religious liberty for all people.” I critique the proposition nation myth in Against the Waves and the 1607 Project. The truth is that the states preexisted the union, the freedom of the Declaration was not concerned with internal social arrangements, and many states did limit non-Christian religions. The First Amendment applied only to Congress and did not bar even that body from enacting legislation favorable to Christianity.

The remarkable thing about 250 years since the Declaration is the fact that the union of states still exists and has maintained its independence. The Baptists formed a large part of the Christian character that produced and continues to animate the character of the United States, including on religious liberty, conceived as freedom of conscience to worship God.

The resolution “On Political Violence and Speech” could probably have been worded better at points, but is overall decent. For example, it states Baptists should refuse “to treat image bearers as enemies to be destroyed rather than neighbors to be loved . . . and refus[e] to derive primary identity from political affiliation rather than from union with Christ.” For Christians, the key distinction in whether violence is permissible involves whether the situation entails a state of war. Even David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23), whom God commended, killed enemies made in the image of God. Their primary identity, presumably, was as followers of God, which helped motivate their military activity. The reason political violence is wrong is because of what is found in the beginning of the resolution, that the “taking of innocent life is an offense against the Creator.” Simply being made in the image of God, or implying that spiritual identity prevents someone from having too strong a political affiliation that would lead to violence, are not strong reasons for reaching the valid conclusion the resolution aims for.

The resolution “On Antisemitism” represents one of the more stark examples of how Southern Baptists differ from liberal mainline denominations, which generally view Israel very negatively. It is mostly well worded, but could have been clearer if what they meant by antisemitism had been better defined according to biblical standards by applying unequal weights and measures, lying, reviling, and cursing rhetoric toward Jewish people. It would also have been appropriate to distinguish between true and false charges of antisemitism since organizations like the ADL have gone after basic Christian beliefs that are not anti-Jewish.

The resolution “On Immigration, Human Dignity, and the Rule of Law” is confusing. It rightly identifies the government as having the “responsibility… to maintain lawful order, secure borders, and implement humane immigration systems.” Yet, it also rejects “nativism” and adopts a moral posturing that it is somehow not Christian to “reduce” a person to a “political problem.” The term “illegal” is not used, and in light of the resolution’s call to use “dignifying language” in describing immigrants, perhaps that is why.

Clearly, Christians should assume that policies impact real people, but without an example of what reducing someone to a political problem means, it comes across as a false dilemma. The presence of some immigrants, especially in large, concentrated numbers, can pose problems for the government to address. Even more so if they are here illegally.

The resolution correctly identifies the government’s role, but it is very separate from Christians’ roles. Southern Baptists are told they have responsibilities to share the Gospel and care for immigrant and refugee communities, but they are not told they have a responsibility to encourage compliance with the law or report legal violations to lawful authorities.

Webster’s definition of nativism is simply “a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants,” which, after years of unrestrained immigration, would not seem like an irrational posture for a Christian who loves his family, church, and community to take. Yet “nativism,” according to the resolution, “den[ies] the equal worth and dignity” of people.

One wonders what principles should guide a magistrate in setting the policies the resolution rightly attributes to the government if not a preference for one’s own people.

All this said, I think the resolution “On the Office and Function of Pastor/Elder/Overseer” is a breath of fresh air in that it tackles a controversial issue and does so from a theologically conservative angle in faithfulness to previous Southern Baptist language limiting the office and function of pastor to qualified men. Even if the reconciliation amendment fails to pass, this resolution is a helpful precedent in defining the theological boundaries on the subject of alleged female pastors.

Conclusion

Overall, conservatives should have higher hopes for this year’s Annual Meeting.

If Willy Rice is elected, it means there will start to be committee appointments that reflect the majority of Southern Baptists outside the leadership class, who want to see souls saved but are not interested in racial quotas or #MeToo priorities.

There is also a sense that some of the most progressive-minded advocates, like Russell Moore, Beth Moore, and Charlie Dates, are no longer influencing the SBC from the inside. Those who show up will essentially have to defeat the Kevin Ezell and J.D. Greear wing of the Convention, which may be doable this year.

There is reason to hope. There are more opportunities for convictional conservatives now than we have seen in a long time. May God grant mercy to the Southern Baptist Convention and use them for years to come.

This is a lightly edited version of an article that was originally published at Jon Harris’s Substack, From the Desk of Jon Harris